Don't Marry Her
by myxwonder-wall
Summary: Albus is at the alter and this is Scorpius' last chance. Sink or swim time, Malfoy. One-shot written for the as/s carnival at LiveJournal.


Prompt(s): Rain, Peach, Ocean, Party, Bonus, Panic at the Disco song

Title: Out of Time

Author: Brionna - lj userbrixisxonfire

Length: 2, 685

Rating: NC17

Summary: "I mean it was a now-or-never moment," she explained. "You should've said it earlier, but it was your last chance. I'm impressed you had the balls to do it at the ceremony."

Notes: There WILL be World Cup, no worries. I just got a plot bunny and needed to not cram all prompts into one story. This isn't beta'd because I was too anxious to post it. Forgive me.

brixisxonfire./24882.html#cutid1

lj-cut text"An ocean side wedding. H_ow very original_."

An ocean side wedding. I_How very original/I_, Scorpius thought to himself bitterly. It was all he could do to not actually roll his eyes and shake his head. I_It'll probably start pouring during the ceremony_/I, Scorpius' lips twitched into an entertained smirk at that thought.

Scorpius didn't want to be here, but there was no way he could've stayed home. He'd gotten an invitation to the wedding and was too much of a masochist to turn down the opportunity to watch Albus get married to some beautiful bimbo. I_That's not fair_/I, his conscience snapped, I_she's smart and she's nice; you know that_/I.

"Doesn't matter," he whispered darkly. The girl sitting next to him, Albus' cousin Lucy, turned to look at him, arching a red eyebrow. "Oh, nothing. Sorry." He faked a smile.

Any minute now the music would start. Albus was already at the alter, waiting for his bride. Scorpius thought he'd be sick looking at him up there. He looked amazing in his dress robes. It killed him that the nervous, excited expression on Albus' face was for someone else. This was supposed to be Scorpius' day.

The music started and everyone stood up to watch the bride walk down the aisle. Scorpius had to admit, even though she was stealing what should have been his, she was beautiful. Her gown made her look like royalty and he wondered how much she'd spent on it. Scorpius couldn't take his eyes off of her and all he could think about was what it would be like to be in her place now. What if he'd said yes three years ago when he'd been proposed to?

Albus had proposed on graduation night and Scorpius had been blind sided by being asked to marry him. Sure, they'd been together pretty much since they were thirteen. He did want to marry Albus one day, but not at eighteen. He hadn't said no to Albus, he'd said 'not yet.' There was a difference. Albus didn't see it. They hadn't broken up right away, but Albus had started to distance himself. Eventually, the relationship crumbled and Albus had gone to Romania to work with his uncle as a Dragon tamer. They'd traded the odd letter here and there, but nothing deep. Nothing like they'd used to be. Not even close friends like they'd been before their romantic relationship. Albus had come home six months ago with a girl he'd met there. They were engaged to be married.

Scorpius fought tears with every ounce of will power in his body. This wasn't right. Albus belonged with him, not some girl he met in Romania. He was ready to get married now. All he'd wanted was to spread his wings first. Find a career and get a boost. Be successful and stable, then they could have gotten married. But no, Albus took 'not yet' to mean 'I don't want to make that commitment to you.' It wasn't about Albus. Scorpius just didn't want to rush into marriage. They were hardly even eighteen!

How could he let things go this far? How couldn't he have even tried to stop this? Sure, he'd wanted Albus to be happy. He still wanted Albus to be happy, even now with his bride a yard away from the alter. But he also wanted Albus to be happy with Ihim/I. He couldn't take it. With every word said going towards tying the two of them for life, Scorpius got more and more sick. He started to picture the rest of his life and the rest of Albus' life. Scorpius would be alone while Albus screwed his wife into the mattress every night and went on vacations and had babies with her. Everything Scorpius had always imagined they'd be doing together.

He'd tuned out, but tuned right back in when Albus was about to say 'I do.' He couldn't do it. He couldn't let Albus get married. This wasn't right and he couldn't live the rest of his life watching Albus with I_Insert Name Here_/I.

"Don't," he yelled, standing up. Every person in attendance turned to look at him. Albus' mouth was slightly ajar and he looked completely taken off guard. Scorpius hurriedly moved down the row of seating to stand in the aisle. "Albus, don't."

"Scorpius," Albus hissed, a look of disbelief on his face. "Stop it. What the hell is wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me!? This is wrong with me," he gestured all around the rows of guests and the alter. "This isn't right. You can't marry her, Albus!"

"Shut up," Albus growled, teeth gritted. "Stop. Now."

"No," Scorpius yelled, chest starting to heave. His throat hurt from the lump in it, and this could make everything worse but he had to try. "You asked me to marry you when we were eighteen years old. I wasn't ready to marry I_yet/I. _I did not say I didn't want to ever get married! You should have known that," Scorpius shook his head, trying to swallow back the lump. "I loved you, Albus. I love you now! Don't marry her!"

Albus blinked, staring at Scorpius. Swallowing again, Scorpius said, "look me in the eye and tell me you don't want me at all. But if you want me, even just a little, you shouldn't be marrying someone else."

Albus looked at his feet, shaking his head. "Stop it. You're embarrassing yourself."

"Look at him," Insert Name finally spoke. "Look at him and tell him, Albus. Go ahead." Albus looked up at her. He looked totally helpless and his chest was starting to heave a bit like Scorpius'.

"Scorpius," Albus said firmly, looking him in the eye. "I don't… I-I…" He couldn't get the words out.

"Damn you, Albus," Insert Name screeched. A second later there was a crack and she was gone.

Scorpius couldn't identify what was going on in Albus' head. That was one thing about Albus that had never failed to amazing Scorpius. His eyes showed so many emotions at once, it was hard to imagine Albus wasn't about to explode from emotional overload. He looked lost, embarrassed and maybe, just maybe, relieved. But he also looked angry.

"I hate you," Albus shouted, eyes trained on Scorpius. With a crack, he was gone as well and Scorpius was left with everyone staring at him. Of course, it also started to rain.

Scorpius didn't find it nearly as funny now.

p aligncenter--/p

Apparently, the fact that the ceremony had fallen apart couldn't keep the guests from attending the reception. While everyone else was taking advantage of the free food and open bar in the lodge, Scorpius was sitting outside drowning his sorrows with a pint of Firewhiskey and going over the scene in his head again. What was he thinking, standing up in the middle of the ceremony and telling Albus he loved him?

"Hey," Scorpius flinched, looking up to see who was speaking. Rose was standing next to him, still in her peach colored (admittedly hideous) bride's maid dress. He relaxed a bit, eyes dropping to look back at his feet.

"Hey," he grunted. Rose hoisted herself onto the table beside him, placing a hand on his back. "I'm such a fuckwit, Rose."

"No you're not," she said softly, rubbing between his broad shoulders. "Maybe your timing was bad, but your hand was kind of forced."

"What do you mean," he asked lamely, looking over at her.

"I mean it was a now-or-never moment," she explained. "You should've said it earlier, but it was your last chance. I'm impressed you had the balls to do it at the ceremony."

"Balls," Scorpius snorted, rolling his eyes and taking a deep drink of his Firewhiskey. "More like the stupidity. Merlin, he I_hates_/I me now."

"No he doesn't," she stated, sounding sure of herself. "He's upset and confused. Did you know that after he moved to Romania, he wanted you but thought he'd lost his chance?"

"What," Scorpius gaped, head snapping up.

"I shouldn't be the one telling you," she mumbled, looking away. "But yeah. He missed you a lot, but thought he'd fucked things up too much by freaking out over you not wanting to get married."

Scorpius was stunned and could only stare at her. Then, he became very angry. How could Albus do that? How could he have thought that? He'd told Albus he'd love him forever. He'd promised Albus. "He's so fucking stupid," Scorpius growled. The mug shattered, covering his pant leg in the alcohol. "Why then, why go and get all, all… married!"

"What else is he supposed to do when he thinks his chances with you are shot," Rose shrugged. "He thought you two were done for. So he moved on, or something like that."

Scorpius shook his head, frustrated and not knowing what to say. He dug his wand out of his pocket, using it to clean his Firewhiskey-soaked trousers and repair the shattered mug. He wished he were fifteen again and that his biggest worries were OWLs and the odd spot here and there. Now he was twenty-one, sitting under an awning on a table with his best friend. His best friend who, coincidentally was cousin of his ex-boyfriend whose wedding he'd just fucked up.

"Ahem," Scorpius and Rose both looked up at the sound of a man clearing his throat. Albus was standing at the top of the stairs, arms folded. He was staring steadfastly at Scorpius. "Could you excuse Scorpius for a while, Rose?"

"Of course," she blurted. She turned her head and gave Scorpius what was supposed to be a reassuring look. Scorpius took a deep breath, prepared for the worst, and hopped off the table.

Albus didn't say anything when Scorpius reached him, just turned around and led him down the stairs to the beach. "Are you going to say anything," Scorpius asked timidly, walking along side the other man.

"I'm thinking," Albus snapped, keeping his eyes trained straight ahead. Scorpius didn't say anything else. They walked half a mile, Scorpius would guess, before Albus spoke again. "Why did you do that? Why on Earth did you wait until I was at the fucking alter to say something?"

"How was I supposed to say something when you were busy making plans and hearing wedding bells," Scorpius tried to defend himself. "I wasn't going to say anything ever. I really was just going to swallow it. But seeing you up there, seeing her walk down the aisle to meet you… think about how it should've been me up there… I couldn't swallow it.

"Rosie told me that you still wanted me. That you thought your chances were shot. Is that true, Albus?"

Albus gritted his teeth and nodded, still refusing to look at Scorpius as they walked, getting drenched by the rain. "You couldn't look me in the eyes, Albus. Do you still want me? Even though you were going to marry her, and I don't doubt that you do love her in some way -- do you still want me?"

Albus stopped abruptly and turned ninety degrees and looks at Scorpius. The rain made it hard to tell, but Scorpius could see it after a minute. Albus was trying not to cry. "I fucked up," he choked. "I fucked up and I was stupid. I distanced myself, I didn't listen to you. I ruined everything. I moved away, and I didn't know how to fix things, and I thought you wouldn't want me after how I treated you and then I met Claire and she reminded me so much of you and I thought maybe if I couldn't have you, I could find someone else to love and I do love her, I do but when I look at her and when I look at you I get two totally different feelings," Albus was trembling by the time he finished his speech.

"When I'm with her, I feel like I'm with the best friend I could ask for. When I'm with you," he paused, blinking back tears with little success. "I feel whole."

Scorpius was blinking back his own tears now. "So… what are you," he didn't know what he was trying to say. He wanted Albus, and Albus wanted him. But Albus had also made a commitment to his girlfriend, fiancée… whatever she was now. If she even wanted him.

"I don't know what to do," Albus whispered, tears rolling down his cheeks and mixing with the rain. "I feel stuck."

"I want you to choose me, of course I want you to choose me," Scorpius whispered, blinking up at Albus against the rain. "But I also just want you to be happy… but Merlin, I want you I_so bad_/I."

Albus grabbed him then, hands firmly on Scorpius' cheeks. He almost bonked noses with him in his haste, but managed to slam his mouth against Scorpius' without much damage. Scorpius gasped, eyes opening wide and his lips puckering to kiss Albus back. Once he got a grip on himself his eyes fluttered shut and his hands found Albus' shoulders. It had been years since they'd kissed and now it was all they could do not to go at it like starved animals. After you spent so long without so much as touching, it was next to impossible to keep things at a kiss.

Next Scorpius knew, he was on his back in a bed and it didn't matter what had happened earlier or what would happen later. All that mattered now was Albus was undressing him and they were together again. If only for the moment.

"I missed you," Scorpius breathed, running his hands over Albus' bare chest. Albus didn't say anything, instead claiming Scorpius' mouth in a fierce kiss once again. Scorpius' feet found each other and hooked over Albus' lower back. He moaned, surprised to feel Albus pushing into him, already slick. I_Someone's gotten good with wandless magic_/I. It had been ages since Scorpius had bottomed for anyone, but the burning was pleasant. As long as it was Albus.

"Ah," Albus' voice cracked, taking hold of Scorpius' hips. "Scorpius…" His picked up pace, slamming into Scorpius' body like he could lose his air supply if he went any slower.

Scorpius' back arched and he tangled his fingers into the man's dark, wet hair. He lifted his hips up against Albus' thrusts, chest tightening with the effort to breathe. He had almost forgotten what it felt like to be with someone he was in love with. What it was like to be with Albus. He'd nearly forgotten the way Albus tasted and how he could actually see Albus' chest thumping from how hard his heart was beating. Even if he had forgotten, he remembered now. He remembered every arch and dip of the man's body as if it were his own.

"I missed you too," Albus panted in his ear. "I missed you every day, I_every/I_ day," he kept talking. "When I… saw you, at… lunch with Rosie… after I got home… from Romania… I… lost my breath for… the first time in my life." Leave it to Albus to make his confessions while he was in the middle of reunion sex. "I just… everything… came flooding… back…"

"Shh," Scorpius tried to hush him, kissing his lips. He wanted to talk, he did. But right now, he just wanted to feel this. Feel the physical connection, the bond.

"Would it be… all right… if we just sat… and talked for a little while," Albus asked, green eyes looking a bit desperate. "After this…"

"After this," Scorpius promised. Finally, Albus rested his forehead on Scorpius' shoulder and let things fall silent, save for labored breathes and heart beats./lj-cut


End file.
